3 ms·

>- Reduce your meat consumption as much as you can. Don't go all the way vegan, but make meat a special treat not a commodity. Why? How will this help the envi

>- Reduce your meat consumption as much as you can. Don't go all the way vegan, but make meat a special treat not a commodity. Why? How will this help the environment? Real sources please.

deleted 7y ago
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gambler 7y ago
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010 https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010 But really, it's common sense. Do you think it's more efficient to eat grain or to feed grain to a cow, wait until it matures and then eat the cow?
_Microft 7y ago
Reason is biology/physics. You need ten times the biomass to create an equivalent biomass at a trophic level that is one higher. It HAS to be more inefficient to eat meat instead of crops because it raises your trophic level by 1. (Worst case is eating what were apex predators like e.g. tuna fish) About trophic levels: Level 1 are producers like plants. Herbivores are level 2, carnivores eating herbivores are level 3, carnivores eating carnivores are level 4 and then there's the apex predator that is not eaten by anything, usually. Some links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level#Biomass_transfer_efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level#Biomass_transfer... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_efficiency#Ten_percent_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_efficiency#Ten_perc...
- eMSF 7y ago
  Well... except for the fact that I don't have a gut to make use of any of the biomass that grazing cattle can harvest from a field. And eaten or not, that biomass is part of active carbon cycle, and if left on the field, will decompose back into the atmosphere.
  - _Microft 7y ago
    About 36% of all crops were used to feed lifestock in 2017. [0], table on page 7 (PDF page numbers). So - no need to graze. [0] http://www.fao.org/3/ca0239en/CA0239EN.pdf http://www.fao.org/3/ca0239en/CA0239EN.pdf

>- Reduce your meat consumption as much as you can. Don't go all the way vegan, but make meat a special treat not a commodity. Why? How will this help the environment? Real sources please.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

gambler 7y ago

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010 https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010 But really, it's common sense. Do you think it's more efficient to eat grain or to feed grain to a cow, wait until it matures and then eat the cow?

_Microft 7y ago

Reason is biology/physics. You need ten times the biomass to create an equivalent biomass at a trophic level that is one higher. It HAS to be more inefficient to eat meat instead of crops because it raises your trophic level by 1. (Worst case is eating what were apex predators like e.g. tuna fish) About trophic levels: Level 1 are producers like plants. Herbivores are level 2, carnivores eating herbivores are level 3, carnivores eating carnivores are level 4 and then there's the apex predator that is not eaten by anything, usually. Some links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level#Biomass_transfer_efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_level#Biomass_transfer... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_efficiency#Ten_percent_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_efficiency#Ten_perc...

eMSF 7y ago
Well... except for the fact that I don't have a gut to make use of any of the biomass that grazing cattle can harvest from a field. And eaten or not, that biomass is part of active carbon cycle, and if left on the field, will decompose back into the atmosphere.
- _Microft 7y ago
  About 36% of all crops were used to feed lifestock in 2017. [0], table on page 7 (PDF page numbers). So - no need to graze. [0] http://www.fao.org/3/ca0239en/CA0239EN.pdf http://www.fao.org/3/ca0239en/CA0239EN.pdf